


An Eagle and A King

by charlottefrey



Category: Kingsman (Movies), The Eagle | The Eagle of the Ninth (2011)
Genre: Cruise Ship Mission, Esca got the hots, Fake Relationship, Fake/Pretend Relationship, I haven't seen Eagle of the Ninth for ages, M/M, Marcus is a little slow as always, Mission Fic, Pinky promise, Pretend Relationship, Slow Burn-ish, Some angst, There WILL be a bit about Marcus in speedos, mentions of injury during service, no beta we die like men, our boys will talk about past trauma at some point or another, warning for extremely ooc writing, what's an esca/marcus fic without some knee pain?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-03-17 17:17:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18969553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charlottefrey/pseuds/charlottefrey
Summary: Esca, codename Gaheris, is sent on a mission with Statesman-exchange Marcus Aquila. The stoic Kingsman wouldn't have that much of a problem with it, if they wouldn't have been required to go undercover on a cruise ship in Italy as a couple of all things. Not that Esca would mind spending a lot of very intimate moments with Marcus. He'd rather have them do all that... for real.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [combefaerie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/combefaerie/gifts).



> Katie, babe... I apologize in advance. BC of work, uni applications, the dreaded election today and the fact that I am a certified mess, this work of art (or something) is still under construction. But I wanted to give you at least something for your birthday. 
> 
> For the rest of you: Even though I promised myself a long time ago I would NEVER EVER write a crossover... here we are. I have nothing to say for myself.

Marcus stared out the window. His Kingsman sanctioned flat was overlooking a Tesco’s parking lot and a sad little park with faded slides. Great Britain seemed utterly dreary to him from where he stood right now. 

Ever since he stepped off the plane it had been raining like crazy. Everything was grey in grey and depressing to look at. Eggsy had tried to explain to him that it was only like that in spring and the weather would surely get better once summer rolled around proper. Marcus hadn’t believed him. 

A glance back to the clock told him it was time to get going. There was a Kingsman meeting in thirty five minutes and Eggsy had promised to pick him up by now the latest. Turning away from the depressing view from his window, Marcus reached for his glasses and phone. Just then the doorbell rang quite insistently. 

When Marcus opened the door, someone who was definitely not Eggsy was standing outside his door. The dude was maybe the same height as Eggsy, but horizontally... Quite lacking. His pointy face had the same pale white eggshell colour as Marcus’ flat door.

For a few moments they only looked at each other. Marcus thought the stranger quite handsome until he opened his mouth. 

  “I’m Gaheris, Galahad sent me to pick you up.” 

Despite the smoothness of his tone and accent, Gaheris still managed to sound gruff and annoyed. With his lips in a lopsided frown and his eyes cast somewhere over Marcus shoulder, he was the picture of a grumpy Brit. 

  “Sure,” was all that Marcus could say before he grabbed his keys and jacket.

If Gaheris wanted to be a dickhead, he could go ahead and be one. Marcus always had the option to simply go back to America. Even though he had promised Champagne he would at least give the whole idea a chance. 

As Marcus pulled on his shoes, he noticed that Gaheris didn’t move from where he now leaned against the doorway. Maybe that was his way of telling Marcus to get a move on. But Marcus took his sweet time. After all Gaheris had been late in the first place.

  
  


Esca had momentarily lost control of his higher brain functions when Whiskey had opened the door. Neither Eggsy nor Harry had told him that the Statesman agent was such a good looking guy. So instead of a smooth introduction, Esca had fucked up and been a bitch to Whiskey. Now he watched the other man put on his shoes and tried his fucking best not to oogle that ass too much. 

While he mentally cursed himself out, he tried to think of a way to redeem himself to Whiskey. After all he was not just a hot hunk of a guy, he was also a guest and Harry had made quite clear that he expected everyone to be on their best behaviour around him. 

  “I’m ready!” Whiskey stood up and smiled at him. 

Esca awkwardly smiled back, knowing it looked a lot more like baring his teeth than anything else. He made a nodding motion into the direction of the stairs and pushed away from the the doorway.  Without waiting for Whiskey, he made his way back to the car. The understated black BMW waited just outside of the apartment complex. 

  “Thank you for picking me up,” Whiskey said as he slipped into the passenger seat. “I would probably fuck up half of London if I got behind the wheel.” 

  “Who says I’m not equally likely to do that?” Esca replied and smirked at Whiskey. 

Immediately Esca was treated to a grinning Whiskey and the other agent leaned over the centre console. 

  “I trust you and your driving skills,” he said quietly. 

Esca fought the urge to swallow hard. With Marcus this close he could smell the other’s Old Spice cologne and although it was a little cliche his stomach flipped. Instead of throwing himself at Marcus though, he turned on the engine and pulled out of the parking spot. 

  “Just one question though,” Whiskey began. “Is it like cool to share ones actual name with other Kingsmen? Because Arthur and Galahad know mine and vice versa.” 

  “It’s chill I guess,” Esca replied. 

He didn’t let slip that he barely had any contact with anyone outside of work. Maybe apart from Tristan but she was an outlier and should now be counted. 

  “I’m Marcus Aquilla,” Whiskey said with a smile. 

  “Esca Mac Cunoval,” he replied with an almost-smile

They didn’t speak after this exchange, but Esca felt as if the mood had significantly lightened. 

  
  


  “Agents Tristan and Lancelot will provide support and back-up from a mission headquarter, but unless you really mess things up, they shouldn’t come into action,” Arthur said. “What I ask of you two, Gaheris and Whiskey, is a lot and I know that. But we are seriously short on agents at the moment and you two are both experienced in the field.”

  “Nothing to worry about,” Whiskey said calmly. “I’m sure Gaheris and I will get along and finish the mission to everyone’s satisfaction.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Arthur replied with a smile. “If there are no more question, we will end this briefing. Your mission starts tomorrow morning at nine. Your plane leaves from Heathrow. Tristan and Lancelot will follow on two seperate flights. Make contact only if absolutely necessary. We do not know who is involved with the Golden Circle. If there are no more questions, I suggest you four go prepare.” 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will take soft!Marcus to my grave.   
> Also Fedoras Are Always Evil.

Esca pulled his sunglasses down when he stepped into his and Marcus’ suite. 

  “If this is a regular suite, what must the honeymoon suite look like…”

Marcus laughed as he opened the bathroom door.

  “Maybe one day you will know,” he joked as he stepped into the bathroom. “We have a fucking jacuzzi in here.” 

Instead of dwelling on Marcus’ statement regarding the honeymoon suite, Esca followed him into the bathroom to find the Statesman in the empty jacuzzi, arms folded behind his back. Esca grinned at him involuntarily. In his linen shirt and shorts Marcus looked like the picture of a relaxed holiday-maker. 

And besides that it made him look even more handsome than he already was. 

  “How are we going to go about this whole thing?” Esca blurted out. 

  “We strictly follow Harry’s mission guideline,” Marcus replied, watchin Esca slowly approach the jacuzzi tub to sit down on the edge. 

  “Yeah, not that. Like the whole fake relationship thing,” Esca avoided Marcus’ eyes, heart beating in his throat.

  “Hold on,” Marcus said and sat up. “Are you uncomfortable because I’m a guy?” 

  “I’m… I’m fine with the mission and what it entails. I am into guys and even if I weren’t it would still be okay,”  Esca back pedalled. “I did agree to this mission if that’s what you want to hear. It’s just… I’ve only been on one of this type of assignments before.” 

  “If I ever do something that makes you uncomfortable, please tell me.” 

Esca finally looked at Marcus again. 

Still sitting in the empty jacuzzi, Marcus had a worried expression on his face, his hand halfway extended to Esca. Something clicked inside of Esca and he sighed quietly. 

  “I will, thank you for your concern,” he said and smiled softly at Marcus. “You still haven’t answered my question though.” 

  “What are you comfortable with and what is no-no?” 

  “You can’t answer a question with a question.”

  “What are you going to do, put me in handcuffs?” 

  
  


Esca looked over the open wide sea as the ship made quick progress across the Mediterranean towards Italy. The starting point of their journey had been Barcelona and if everything went according to plan they’d end up there in three weeks again. This was technically simply an extraction mission. Intel had been placed into the hands of three different enemy agents on board, all three leftovers of the Golden Circle. 

They had to be found, the intel extracted and deleted from whatever device it was stored on. Esca knew that it wasn’t as easy as it sounded. The enemy agents were just as well trained as he and Marcus, meaning that there was little to no chance that there would be only one memory chip left somewhere in their cabin. It was more likely to be either split into two or more pieces or stored on multiple devices. Presumably on their person or at the very least secured in multiple ways.

With a sigh, he pushed away from the railing and turned towards the staircase. He had promised to meet Marcus on the first floor deck swimming pool. As he made his way towards the back of the ship, he passed quite a number of people who were so clearly well off it made Esca’s stomach turn. 

Sure thanks to his line of work, he had been able to afford his parents a comfortable home and a full bank account, but it hadn’t always been like that. He had a similar background to Eggsy. But he didn’t have a gracious mentor like Eggsy, everything Esca had gotten so far was through hard work. For years he had to endure a lot of bullying from his colleagues despite his track record.

In a way he was happy that the Golden Circle had decimated their numbers. Most of the more snotty Kingsman had died. He did miss a few of them, but only because he had respected their knowledge and skill level. 

  “Darling,” someone said and a hand wrapped around his wrist. “So deep in thought, you walk past your fiance?” 

Marcus’ fingers were strong and calloused against the soft skin of Esca’s wrist. It was almost sensual how gentle Marcus held onto Esca. 

  “I’m sorry,” Esca replied with a smile and turned to Marcus resting on a sunlounger. 

  “It’s alright.”

Gently Marcus pulled Esca down next to him. Without much resistance, Esca followed Marcus’ lead and settled against Marcus’ massive chest. He was still wearing the soft linen shirt with blue and white flowers from earlier. Esca sighed and closed his eyes, one hand resting on Marcus’ shoulder. 

  “There is a guy right across the pool with a fedora. He matches Merlin’s description of one of our targets,” Marcus whispered, one hand drawing circles on Esca’s back. 

Blinking his eyes open, Esca glanced over to the man and quietly hummed in confirmation. He shifted and snuggled closer to Marcus. 

  “I can try to hack into the system to find out where his room is,” Esca whispered and toyed with one of Marcus’ buttons. 

In the sunlight, the engagement ring glittered. It was a delicate silver ring with five purple stones arranged around a pearl. Esca knew it was something from Kingsman when Marcus handed it to him before they left for the airport two days ago. Still it had felt like the real thing when Marcus had put it on his finger. Esca forced that thought quickly out of his mind just in time to catch what Marcus muttered next. 

  “Already on it. Merlin has confirmed that he’s going to take care of any hacking whatsoever. Apparently he doesn’t trust you with any computer related issue whatsoever.” 

  “I once fucked up a little. And he’s still not over it,” Esca grumbled. 

  “What happened?” Marcus shifted a little, turning his head into Esca’s direction. 

  “I wanted to extract a captured politician, so I hacked the system and opened a door, thinking it would free the captive. But when he stepped through, the door slid shut, killing him instantly. No one told me to look for security systems,” Esca huffed. 

Marcus smile and Esca had a hard time looking away from his lips. Which proved to be harder than he thought, after all they were in his direct line of sight. 

  “Rookie mistake,” Marcus teased him. 

  “Says the one who got infected with that shit from Poppy!” Esca pinched him gently. 

Marcus chuckled and shook his head. 

  “Feisty little bugger,” he muttered almost lovingly. 

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I was gone for 9 days on a motorbiking trip. I tried to write on my phone but i'm not going to get into how awful that was.  
> Most of this chapter is pretty much snippets and short moments from a longer timeline that I failed to put together in a way that I liked. Well, lets hope the next chapter is more of a continuous thing. 
> 
> No it didn't take me ten minutes of wiki/google search to find out which division of the US army has red berets i don't know what you are talking about.
> 
> Marcus' leg is mentioned here and I hope I managed to make it not to ooc. 
> 
> Next chapter WILL be gayer, trust me. I have big plans for those two bitches.

Esca drops into the room through the small window above the door. Just an hour ago he and Marcus had watched how Roxy served Fedora Man his dinner. Now the medication she had slipped into it must’ve taken its toll on him.

As he made his way over to the bed, Esca was able to confirm this. Sprawled over the blankets, Fedora Man slept with his hat along with his clothes somewhere at the foot of the bed.

  “All clear,” he said to Marcus.

  “ _Good to hear that_.”

The feel of the Kingsman issued glasses on his nose was a welcome distraction from Marcus’ gentle voice in his ear. Esca raised one hand to touch Fedora Man, but he sleeps tightly.

  “I’m going to scan the room now, so I’ll be offline for a bit.”

  “ _Good luck_ ,” Marcus’ voice is soft in his ear just before the connection cut out.

Esca inhaled deeply and licked his lips. There was no point dwelling on the last few days spent with Marcus when there were much more important things to do.

It had been nice pretending to be Marcus’ fiance. Marcus was the type of man who made him feel safe, yet in control of everything. Like a big gentle dog, Marcus always remained by his side like a steady presence. And not only in silence the two got along just fine. Despite all the prejudices Esca had had regarding the American, he had turned out to be a witty counterpart in their conversations, challenging Esca at every turn.

With a soft click, Esca pulled a small USB drive from under the sink and stuck it into his pocket. One down. Fedora Man muttered in his drugged sleep, but Esca ignored him.

Sometimes he wondered how it would be if they were actually together. Would Marcus take him on a cruise like this? Unwantedly Marcus’ honeymoon suite joke came to his mind. Esca shook his head, momentarily losing focus of the next electronic device as his vision spun a little.

The glasses were too loose he realized. But now it was too late to get them fitted. He’d had to do that once he got home.  

He pushed all unwanted thoughts about Marcus or his glasses aside and focused.

  


When Esca slipped into the suite again, Marcus sat on his side of the bed. The first thing Esca noticed was the strong scent of forest in the room and the slightly pained sounds Marcus made as he massaged his right thigh. The sound his knuckles made as they moved over his thigh was slick.

  “Marcus?” Esca asked, eyebrows arched.

  “Yeah?” Marcus’ voice sounded pressed and tight.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  “I got an old injury that acts up sometimes. As it happens, it’s being a bitch right now and I couldn’t sleep because of it,” Marcus stopped rubbing along the side of his muscular thigh and turned towards Esca. “How was the extraction?”  

  “I got all the devices, but frankly I still believe placing them back into the room is less suspicious,” Esca put the five USB sticks down on the couch table.

Marcus struggled to stand up and Esca took a few steps towards him until he saw Marcus wave him off.

  “I can handle myself, thanks,” Marcus muttered as he stood up. “I leave that to your judgement, after all you will have to go and put them all back where you found them.”

  “That shouldn’t be a problem,” Esca replied.

Marcus shrugged and looked at Esca. The view of Marcus, half naked in his loose t-shirt and boxers, stirred something inside of Esca. He wanted to reach out and brush the messy hair on top of Marcus’ head back and out of his handsome face. Swallowing he returned his attention back to the real problem.

  “Get me my computer,” he said calmly. “And call Merlin.”

  
  


Esca doesn’t wake when Marcus gently shuffled out of bed the next morning. They had been up all night to figure out how to corrupt the data found on the USB sticks in such a way that it wasn’t obvious, but sound enough to make it all useless. Finally, Merlin had had a brilliant idea and for the lack of better options, they had went with it.

Soon after Esca had returned for the second time, he had fallen asleep. Marcus however had trouble falling asleep again. Not only had the whole escapade with the USB sticks robbed him of all sleepiness, but also his leg was keeping him up. So instead of a good night's rest, Marcus drifted in and out of sleep for the next few hours.

Now at eight in the morning, he couldn’t stay in bed longer. Grabbing his work out clothes, he decided to go and see what the on board gym had to offer.

  
  


Esca was curled up in bed when Marcus returned from the gym.

  “How’s your leg?” Esca asked and slid out from under the covers.

  “Okay,” Marcus shrugged. “I’ll have to get back to training more regularly and massaging it when it hurts, but in a few weeks it should be as good as new.”

  “A few weeks!” Esca exclaimed. “What the hell did you do to it?”

Marcus chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. Esca’s eyes momentarily focused solely on Marcus’ massive biceps.

  “I… I got injured during my time as a red berets. The 82nd Airborne Division that is,” Marcus shrugged. “There’s not much I can tell about what happened, just that it was a fucking messy situation. There were trucks involved and a pipe bomb. My field doc overlooked a shrapnel and when I came back to the US I had to get another surgery. I have had trouble doing anything with my leg ever since and there is little I could do about it.”

  “Oh,” Esca’s eyes dropped to Marcus’ thigh. “How old were you when you were injured?”

  “I was twenty-one.”

  “That’s so young.”

  “My mum was fucking furious when I came home one day and told her I had signed up,” Marcus sighed. “Little surprise, she was even more furious when I came home in a wheel chair.”

  “Why did you sign up in the first place?” Esca blurted out.

Marcus looked at him for a second and the silence weightend on Esca. He blushed and was about to apologize when Marcus spoke again.

  “People lied to me about the military. I wasn’t that good at school and… Being the son of an immigrant wasn’t easy either. I had a hard time in the beginning because of my bad english skills and the fact that I was the fat kid,” Marcus nervously licked his lips. “I thought going into the military would make me some kind of hero. Give me purpose. It didn’t.”

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked,” Esca said, licking his lips nervously.

  “It’s fine,” Marcus shrugged.

Esca reached for him and touched his shoulder. Glancing up, Marcus had a tight lipped smile fixed on his face.

  “I shouldn’t have pried. You didn’t have to tell me.”

  “Esca,” Marcus inhaled. “You are literally the last person where I felt weird or uneasy to tell this all. It actually felt pretty nice. ‘cause I know that you actually care about me. Most of the Statesmen don’t even know why I joined or what I had done before.”

  “Same,” Esca chuckled. “They are all fucking elitist pricks.”

Marcus smiled, for real this time and Esca’s heart sped up. And for now he allowed himself to feel something for Marcus. Fully knowing that the moment Marcus returned to America he’d be heartbroken.

  



	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has zero plot. But a lot of pining and unresolved sexual tension. 
> 
> I'm sorry for the long delay. I've had to deal with a lot of really stressful things last month and even though the beginning of the chapter is from early June, the last few bits are from yesterday...

Esca watched Marcus leave the suite a few days later, morning sun barely peeking through the windows. He yawned and stretched his stiff limbs as the door fell shut. He snuggled back into the pillow and sighed.

Esca huffed and sat up. He wanted to read through Merlin’s message one more time before dressing for the day. 

As he scoured his computer for the email, Esca’s eyes fell on a video saved to his desktop bearing the timestamp and date of the morning after the intel extraction. Confused, he opened it and played it. The motion sensors of his glasses had turned on the video recording and Esca watched how Marcus entered the bathroom in his workout gear. 

He inhaled sharply when Marcus took off his shirt. 

Not like he hadn’t seen Marcus in shorts when they were at the pool, this was more intimate. More private. Esca felt a little revolted about him spying on his partner like this, but he found that he was unable to turn the video off. Marcus slipped out of his shorts and underwear and Esca gasped quietly. 

He’d figured that Marcus was not only tan but also fit all over, but he swore he could bounce a quarter off that butt and it would fly for a good few feet. Then Marcus stepped into the shower and Esca got a nice view of Marcus’ front. 

Needless to say that his eyes flitted  _ down _ first. It was the action of a desperate man, he knew that, but he couldn’t help it. 

Esca whimpered at the thought of Marcus’ dick up his ass. 

Looking down, he noticed that he had gotten hard by now and Esca huffed, annoyed that he reacted so strongly to Marcus’ body. The video now showed Marcus’s back again, how he washed himself, lathering soap over his body. Muscles, wet and soapy, danced under the sun kissed skin of Marcus’ back and shoulders. 

Licking his lips, Esca continued watching. 

  
  


If Marcus noticed something during breakfast, he didn’t show it. And even after that, when Esca avoided him, he didn’t really ask any question. Instead of any making some sort of deep conversation, Esca fled from the suite and went to the pool to read. By the time lunch rolled around, Esca had finished his e-book and was bored out of his mind watching the people in the pool. Marcus, fresh out of the water, let himself fall onto the sun lounge next to Esca, getting everything wet. 

   “Marcus!” Esca scolded. “My e-book isn’t waterproof you lumbering oaf!” 

Marcus giggled and shook his head like a dog, spraying Esca with droplets. 

   “You looked so overheated here in the sun, I thought a little cool down would really help,” he teased softly. 

Esca made the mistake of looking at Marcus’ radiant smile. It took his breath away to see the other man beam at him. He felt a little faint, not only from the heat of the sun and the oppressive humidity surrounding them. 

   “Fuck off,” he muttered, no real venom behind the words. 

He attempted to shove Marcus off the sun lounge, but he simply continued to grin at him with a goofy expression on his face. With a sigh, Esca put the e-book away and leaned against Marcus’ body, trying his best no to think about what he had done earlier today. 

   “What are we going to do today?” Esca asked Marcus in a vain attempt to get his mind out of the gutter. 

   “Nothing much. We’re stopping at Bastia. Our new friend is supposed to board the ship there. We could walk around Bastia for a bit if you want to stretch your legs a little,” Marcus murmured softly. 

   “I think it’s too hot for that,” Esca replied, eyes involuntarily darting down to Marcus’ chest. 

   “Maybe.” 

Glancing back up, he saw Marcus’ smile turn a little seductive. Esca scoffed and sat up. He really didn’t need his feelings interfere with his mission. 

   “I’m going back to the suite,” Esca said and stood up after picking up his e-book. 

   “Esca,” Marcus sat up, reaching for him. “Do you want to eat lunch with me? We’ll be in Bastia in an hour… I’d love to take you out for little stroll.” 

   “I’ll think about it,” Esca replied and pulled his hand out of Marcus’ grasp. 

  
  


Bastia was a little, slightly sleepy looking town. Marcus pulled his snapback further over his face, fearful of a sunburn. He didn’t know why Esca was so weird today, maybe it had something to do with their mission or maybe Esca had simply slept badly that night. It had been insanely hot in the past few days, even with the A/C running constantly on the ship. 

   “How anyone is able to ride a bike in this weather is beyond me,” Esca said when a motorcycle slowly passed them. 

Marcus glanced to the bike and smiled when he saw the all too familiar eagle on the petrol tank glint in the midday sunlight. 

   “Some people simply love biking,” Marcus shrugged. “When I visit my parents, we go for a ride in temperatures like todayl.” 

Esca turned to him, a surprised expression on his face. With a chuckle, Marcus rubbed the back of his neck. 

   “I didn’t know that you’re a motorcyclist,” he sounded awed.

   “It kinda runs in the family,” Marcus shrugged. “My dad is a mechanic and my mother pretty much gave birth to me on a motorbike.” 

   “That sounds dedicated.”

   “They both are. After all they moved to the US for my dad’s job.” 

   “Really?” 

   “Yeah. Dad was under contract with Piaggio. They own Moto Guzzi and Vespa among other italian bike brands. He helped to establish a few dealers in the South before he moved back home to Italy,” Marcus explained. “My mom met him through a Moto Guzzi meetup some thirty years ago. They’re both super brand dedicated.” 

   “Oh that’s so cute. How the love for some sport bring together people!” Esca laughed. “What bike are you riding? Did you follow your parents footsteps?” 

   “No,” Marcus chukled. “And it’s the bane of my dad’s existence. I have a Indian Chieftain in the US. But whenever I visit my parents, I take one of my dad’s customs.” 

   “Do you visit them often?” 

   “Not really. Work always gets in the way. It kind of nags at me because for once I am like only a few hours away from them and I can’t visit because I am working,” Marcus sighed. 

   “I’m sorry about that,” Esca reached for him and put his arm through Marcus’. “I’m lucky I guess, my parents only live an hour away from my place.” 

The silence stretched on between them as they slowly walked through the small streets of Bastia. 

   “Where do your parents live?” Esca asked as they left the busy harbour behind them and walked further into Bastia. 

   “In a small village along the Amalfi Coast. It’s quite lovely there, although everyone knows everyone. Tends to get on my mum’s nerves a little,” Marcus chuckled. “I reall love it there. It’s very calm and very italian.” 

   “You mentioned your dad’s custom bike earlier,” Esca said. “Is he big in the custom business?” 

   “Not really. I mean he has presented his bikes on a few fairs, but he’s already pretty old, so he claims there’s no use in working his ass off to build a reputation,” Marcus chuckled. “He’s got three customs he won’t ever sell. The centurion, the aquilifer and the senator.” 

   “Still it’s pretty impressive that your dad has accomplished so far,” Esca pulled Marcus into a small plaza with a little fountain in the middle. “I mean being sent to the US to build up what he has and now still working.

   “My dad hated the US,” Marcus said with a sigh.

Esca turned around to him. Avoiding Esca’s wide suprised eyes, Marcus continued. 

   “He was forced to leave his beloved Italy behind to go to a country whose language he barely spoke to work with people who looked down on him. He was unhappy and so was my mother. That sort of translated to me as well,” Marcus shrugged. 

He still remembered acutely his parents joy when they told him about their upcoming return to Italy. And before that all those years of unhappiness and the feeling of being alienated by everyone, not just the customers or the neighbours. 

   “I’m sorry,” Esca reached out to Marcus. “I wasn’t aware of that.” 

   “That’s fine,” Marcus let Esca pull him into a hug. “A lot of people look at me and see a southern hick. I mean I do look and act the part.” 

   “Frankly,” Esca looked up at Marcus’ face. “I thought the same when I saw you the first time. And I’m sorry for that.” 

   “Don’t be,” Marcus smiled softly. 

   “Are they happier back home?”

   “Definitely.” 

Marcus gazed down into Esca’s blue-green eyes with a soft expression on his face. He really wanted to lean down and kiss Esca senseless. The soft pitter patter of the water on the stone from the fountain was a background noise. No one had taken the time to get to know him like Esca in a long time and no one had been as honest with him as Esca.

Esca reached up and pulled Marcus’ snapback off his head and slowly blinked at Marcus. Gently, Marcus leaned forward when suddenly, a vespa sputtered around the corner and pulled into the plaza. Marcus had to bite his tongue not to groan out loud. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and giving kudos. If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two days later and a new chapter... what the hell. 
> 
> Theres some angst... or tbh a little more than some angst, but they get better. Next chapter is going to be a little more fluffy i decided. 
> 
> You might've noticed: The mission itself is not really that fucking important to me tbh and I've decided to speed things a little up.

Esca’s head spun. Not only after what had happened in Bastia, something he still hadn’t really processed, but also the sudden change in their mission. 

Subject 2 and 3 had made contact before Subject 3, a tall blonde woman, had stepped foot on the cruise ship. Where she kept the intel was unknown so far, but she had made contact with Fedora Man already. Where Subject 2 was, even Merlin couldn’t say. 

   “What are we going to do now?” Esca asked Marcus. 

   “I don’t really know,” Marcus said with a sigh. 

They were back on the open sea, making their way over to Italy. Since Bastia the two hadn’t really spoken about anything deeper than what they would eat for dinner. Esca sighed and fell back into the pillows.

   “We have to figure out where she keeps that damn intel or else we’re utterly screwed. On one hand it’s good that we only have one more subject, but on the other hand if she does hand over the intel we’re screwed,” Esca muttered, sounding utterly defeated by the mere thought of failing. 

   “We’ll find a way,” Marcus said firmly and turned around to Esca. 

Deep down Esca desperately wanted to tell Marcus that they wouldn’t find a way ever. But he knew how much of a pessimist he could be and he knew there was no use in indulging his stupid negative side. 

   “Hey,” Marcus laid down beside Esca. “It’s going to be fine, we still have a few days to figure out what we’re going to do.” 

   “What if they want to make the exchange earlier? What if they already made the exchange? They’ve already deviated from the original plan, why not a second time?” 

   “Esca,” Marcus pulled him into a hug. “There’s no use fretting over something we don’t know everything about. Even if they already made the exchange, we have a Trojan planted in Fedora Man’s intel. It’ll corrupt everything it’ll get plugged into.”

Esca grumbled and fretted as Marcus gently cradled him against his chest. Soon he relaxed and leaned against Marcus. 

   “I don’t know what to make of this all,” Esca said quietly. 

Marcus didn’t ask for clarification as to what Esca meant and when he looked up he saw that Marcus had fallen asleep. A soft smile eased the stressed lines off Esca’s face and he shifted closer to Marcus. At least in his sleep Marcus wouldn’t notice how desperately Esca craved closeness to him. 

  
  


Marcus woke up, neck and back stiff, in the middle of the night with the moon shining through the windows. And Esca snuggled against him. 

His heartbeat sped up, thumbing against his chest almost painfully. 

This was not how he expected to wake up after what had happened that evening. He leaned down and buried his nose in Esca’s hair and pulled him a little closer. His heart stuttered and kept on with it’s rapid pace. Esca shifted in his sleep and Marcus pulled back. Instead of waking up though, Esca turned away from Marcus and sighed softly as he buried his face into the mattress. 

Slowly, Marcus pulled out his arm from underneath Esca and rolled off the bed. He need to go clear his head. As he pulled on his shoes, Esca muttered something in his sleep and Marcus smiled to himself at how cute it was. He grabbed his phone and his key card as he slipped out of the door. Pulling on his snapback, he walked towards the exit.

The air on the open deck was cool and the wind bit through Marcus’ thin clothes, but he enjoyed cooling down after a hot day. As he strolled along the railing, he heard footsteps from the deck below him. 

   “Why have you made contact again?” That was Fedora Man’s voice and Marcus stopped, keeping a reasonable distance between himself and the railing lest he be spotted. 

   “I want this shit to be over with as soon as possible. I have the rest of the data and if you don’t want it I’ll simply throw you off board and go fetch yours from your room!” 

   “What tells you I don’t carry it with me Sylvia?” 

   “Because you are a wimp. Where would you carry it? You left it in your room like a fucking moron.” 

   “Where do you have your data then?” 

   “Exactly where you told me to stick it.” 

A pause. 

   “Oh my god. That’s disgusting.” 

   “The only way to make sure I always know where it is! You shouldn’t have given me that idea Mark,” Sylvia laughed. 

   “Fuck off. I don’t want to take your data. I’ll give you my stuff tomorrow and then I’m off this blasted boat.” 

One pair of footsteps rushed off and Marcus had to hold back from cursing under his breath. It was exactly what Esca had said. And he also knew where Sylvia kept the intel that had been given to her. Marcus made a face as he thought about the logistics of it. 

He had to think quick. 

  
  
  


Esca woke the next morning by Marcus entering the suite. He looked haggard as if he hadn’t slept much last night. And he was still wearing the same clothes as last night. Not that Esca was any better, but at least he felt a lot more rested than what Marcus looked like. 

   “What’s going on?” Esca asked.

   “I did something weird and maybe wrong.”

   “Huh?” 

   “I made contact with Subject 3, Sylvia,” Marcus held up a small plastic object. “I extracted the intel.” 

   “What?” Esca fell out of bed in his hurry to get to Marcus. 

   “I slept with her.” 

Esca stared at him with wide, confused eyes. 

   “They wanted to make the exchange today, tonight and I had to act fast so I slept with her and once she was out… I went to get the intel,” Marcus rambled, pulling his snapback off his head and running a hand through his short hair. 

   “I can’t follow,” Esca said helplessly. “Please calm down.” 

He reached for Marcus and pulled him to the bed, making him sit down. Esca smelled heavy perfume on him and something inside of him revolted at that. Something about the whole situation made Esca’s skin crawl. Not only the fact that Marcus made contact, but also how it had happened. 

   “What exactly happened last night?” Esca asked, desperate to understand the past night. 

While Marcus explained to him what he had heard and how he’d laid out his plan, Esca had to force himself not to yell at him for being so reckless and stupid. There had been so many things that could’ve gone wrong and he wasn’t even certain if Sylvia wouldn’t recognize Marcus now after they had had sex. 

Esca bit his tongue and kept quiet. He didn’t want to be angry with Marcus. Yet he felt as he needed to tell him off for taking such a risk. It wasn’t just the fact that Marcus put the mission at risk, but also how it had happened. There should’ve been no need to sleep with Sylvia, yet Marcus had gone and done it. 

He was jealous Esca realized with a start. The shock of that realization hit him like a cold shower. 

   “What are we going to do now?” Marcus whispered. “I fucked up the mission.” 

   “We don’t know that,” Esca said firmly, trying to hide his shaking hands. “Merlin might be able to get us some place to stay. Where are we docking next?” 

   “Follonica,” Marcus replied. “We should arrive tomorrow morning.” 

   “Enough time to find a place to stay there, cancel the rest of the trip and figure out a plan,” Esca insisted. “Merlin will help us for sure with the preparations. You did what had to be done and maybe we could have finished the mission another way, maybe not. We can’t know that now.” 

Marcus didn’t say anything and instead fell against Esca. Suddenly burdened with Marcus’ massive body, Esca fell backwards on the bed. But instead of pushing Marcus’ away, he put his arms around, mirroring the position they fell asleep last night. 

Esca closed his eyes when he felt Marcus draw a deep breath. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and giving kudos! If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, work was crazy, I was busy with my fucking shitty motorcycle breaking down the whole time aaaand uni applications... 
> 
> This chapter is 100% percent self-indulgent and yes, the reason why Theopania's nickname is Pan is bc she is pan... *finger guns* I'll show my ass out 'scuse me

Roxy wanted to slap Esca and Marcus when she heard about their fuck-up. Well it was Marcus’ fuck-up but deep down Roxy was sure that Esca had something to do with it.

   “Sometimes I wonder why he’s so daft,” she muttered as she furiously stuffed her things into her bag. 

   “You’re not doing it right.” 

Agent Tristan aka Theophania leaned against the door of Roxy’s room. She still wore her second officer uniform and her smart hat. Roxy hated her a little for looking so good in her uniform. It might have something to do with the fact that Roxy would much rather see the uniform off Theopania and on her cabin floor. 

   “If you want to pack your stuff more efficiently, fold it,” Pan stepped into the room and let the door fall shut behind her. 

   “Pan, you are not helping. Unlike you, I have to leave the ship with these idiots and figure something out that won’t get them killed.” 

   “I understand that you’re cross with them Rox, but honestly, we’ve done it. We got everything we wanted and Merlin will surely figure out something to make it alright again,” Pan sat down on Roxy’s bed and patted the blanket by her side. “Relax a minute will you?” 

   “Those morons,” Rox muttered and sat down beside her colleague. “Why did they act out of turn like that?” 

   “If you haven’t noticed, Esca and Marcus seem to have a thing for each other.” 

   “I’m not blind Pan,” Roxy snapped back. “God, sorry!” She fell backwards onto the soft mattress. “I didn’t mean to be so bitchy to you.” 

   “It’s fine,” Pan took her hat off and sat it down beside her. “But do be honest, sometimes Esca does dump things when he’s under pressure. And as far as I read Marcus’ file correctly, he’s not exactly the most predictable agents. Which is not a bad thing mind you!” 

   “Still…” Roxy groaned. “This was just so damn stupid!” 

   “Fools in love,” Pan replied 

   “You really think that.” 

   “Have you _ seen _ them? I mean either they are very good at acting or they really are in love. I’ve heard so many of the staff comment at how adorable they were at dinner and breakfast and I think you did just the same.” 

Roxy sighed. 

   “I can’t change the things as they are. But I genuinely think if they had talked about their romantic feelings for one another we wouldn’t be in the pickle we’re in right now,” Pan scoffed. “A lot of problems wouldn’t exist if people spoke about their feelings more often.” 

Sitting up, Roxy brushed her hair back. Pan looked at her closely, her own hair matted from her hat, but still styled perfectly. 

   “Am I allowed to knock some sense into their heads?” 

   “Sadly no,” Pan rose and grabbed her hat. “But you are allowed to torture them a little.” 

She leaned down and kissed Roxy’s forehead before leaving, shutting the door behind her. Roxy clutched her chest and heaved out a breath. Once she’d returned to England she would find Pan and ask her out. If she still had the courage to do it by then 

  
  
  


Merlin looked very cross as he debriefed Marcus and Esca via comm. Neither of the men had spoken about what had happened in greater detail. Esca was still cross with Marcus, feeling utterly betrayed for some reason. It might be a little childish, but Esca couldn’t help it. 

Marcus on the other hand was embarrassed. 

He wanted to bury himself under a few tons of concrete and never return from there. It was obvious that what he had done had not only endangered the mission but also estranged him from Esca. The whole debrief was over quicker than Marcus expected and soon a heavy silence settled between him and Esca. 

Roxy somehow had landed them a small apartment by the harbour, a shoddy little thing that smelled of mildew. The floors were uneven, the kitchen disgusting and the bed lumpy. Marcus hated it and he knew Esca disliked it too. 

   “What are we going to do now?” Marcus asked quietly. 

   “We wait until Merlin says it’s fine to go home and then we go home,” Esca replied sharply and stood up to leave the room. 

Dread pooled low and bitter in Marcus’ stomach and an acidic taste filled his mouth. His actions had done more damage than he had anticipated. 

   “Esca,” he whispered brokenly. “I’m sorry.” 

   “Sorry’s not gonna fucking cut it!” Esca barked out and turned around. “Do you have any idea how bloody betrayed I feel? You fucking went and done it and fucked up everything! It bloody fucking hurts okay?” 

Marcus was sure there were tears glinting in Esca’s eyes and that broke something in him. And he came to a realisation. 

   “Esca,” he reached for him, but Esca batted his hands away.

   “No, you are not allowed to touch me when I am angry. I have a whole shit load of things I want to tell you!” Esca snapped. “I thought you’d trust me at least to tell me beforehand what you were about to do. But impulsively you just went ahead and did it. You could’ve even texted me, it didn’t have to be in person. I just wanted to have some kind of warning instead of you simply springing that fuck-up at me in the morning. 

“And it came out of fucking nowhere. Usually I am the one who worries themselves sick over a mission, but I thought you’d keep cool despite the terrible odds. I didn’t want to tell you about my worries because I thought I’d force you to do something rash. Only to find out you actually did something rash!” 

Esca heaved out a breath and ran his hands over his face and through his hair. 

   “If I had known that you were so worried about the mission, I wouldn’t have done what I did,” Marcus said quietly, picking at his fingernails to avoid looking at Esca. “I don’t blame you though for not telling me. It’s not like we were particularly close.” 

   “Fuck off,” Esca scoffed. “We were - no we are close. Not only was that our mission requirement, but I also got close to you while we were on the ship!” 

Marcus looked up into Esca’s face which by now had lost all of the angry lines and the redness. There was a look of defeat and uncertainty in his eyes and it hurt Marcus deeply. 

   “I thought that my brain simply fabricated that for some reason. That it wasn’t real.” 

   “You absolute moron!” 

Esca was across the room and in Marcus’ lab before he could properly process what Esca had said. 

And then Esca was kissing him.

The overwhelming sensation of Esca’s slightly dry lips against his robbed Marcus of all higher brain functions. He sighed softly with bliss and Esca grabbed the back of Marcus’ head to hold him in place as Esca tilted his head slighty. Falling back against the armchair, Marcus dragged Esca with him, wrapping his arms around the other’s waist as he did. 

   “You are so stupid Marcus,” Esca said quietly after they parted. “Thank fuck I’m a moronsexual.” 

Marcus chuckled and dragged his hands up and down Esca’s back. 

   “I’m really sorry for hurting you. If I had know that you felt the same way about me as I felt about you, I wouldn’t have done what I did.” 

   “Are you implying that you had sex with that chit because you wanted to get me out of your head.” 

   “Sort of, but it didn’t really work,” Marcus replied softly. “All I could think of was your fingernails instead of hers digging into my back and your legs wrapped around my hips.” 

Esca gasped softly and pressed his crotch against Marcus’. Both groaned at the friction and Esca pulled at Marcus shirt uselessly. 

   “Tell me more.” 

   “I wanted to take you apart the same way I took her apart and make you weep for release. I wanted to shower you with affection and adoration while I drove you crazy until you were delirious.” 

Esca smirked and kissed Marcus’ jaw. 

   “Oh yes,” he whispered and chuckled.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this trainwreck of a chapter! If you liked it, please leave me a comment! 
> 
> IF you want so have some more explicit action, tell me! I haven't written smut in ages and I don't really know if i can pull it off properly, but if someone is thirstin for some bed sports, I'm willing to try!


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